If you are ever bored on a Tuesday night, what would you rather do? Would you sit and play video games for eight hours straight? Just do nothing, be lazy, and not clean your house or apartment? Do you go out? Well, I will tell you what you can do! On Tuesday nights at the Amherst Dipson Theatre, the Buffalo Film Seminar shows screenings of films ranging from the 1920’s to the 1990’s! But they have separate seasons for their seminars. There is a Fall season. Right now they are in their Spring Season. They show US films or films from foreign countries including Japan and Italy.
Last night, I went to the screening of the 1963 classic The Leopard or Il Gattopardo directed by Luchino Visconti. When I went into the theatre, it was not as packed as it was when it screened Blazing Saddles in the Fall. Prior to the actual screening, two members of the Buffalo Film Seminar, Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian briefly introduced the film and discussed the history of it.
First of all, Diane explains to the audience that The Leopard is in her top two favorite films of all time, I can see why! Bruce Jackson was discussing the director of the film prior to the screening. I learned that the director was an Italian Communist. Which is much different from a Russian Communist. They also mentioned that the film was based on the book written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. An interesting fact is that the book was officially published after the author himself died. Right before the screening, Bruce and Diane mentioned that the film ends at the fifth chapter of the book rather than seventh. The original last sequence was supposed to be 45 minutes. In this one, it was 10 minutes shorter.
The best part of watching this is that the chairs recline back so I can relax and enjoy the film. I will give you a brief summary of what happened. The film takes place during the Unification Period of Italy. The plot involves Prince Don Fabrizio Salina, portrayed by Burt Lancaster, who arranged the marriage of his nephew Tancredi Falconeri , who is a fiery opportunist, and the women of a rich bourgeois Angela. The whole point was to seal the alliance between the Aristocrats and the Parvenus against the peasants of Giueseppe Garibaldi.
The whole film is in Italian with english subtitles so I know what is going on. It did not bother me because I prefer foreign films to be shown with their native language just like the original Gojira or Godzilla from 1954. Another reason is that I am Italian myself so I get to know more history of Italy’s unification.
I personally enjoyed the film. I loved the camera work and the scenery of Italy and of the Sicilian area. I enjoyed the music score so much that I was swaying my feet to the music. The clothing in the film is stupendous and fits the time period perfectly. The only thing I did not like is the running time of the film. I can do with the Godfather but this is the first time I have seen this, so it takes time for me to get used to it.
After the film ended, I went next door to the second theatre for the Q&A portion of the presentation. I did not stay too long because a lot of people were leaving and there were only a few questions. But I did learn that the main character dies after the fifth chapter in the novel, so Burt Lancaster disappearing in the dark signifies his death. They went over that the dog is the most important character of the film and novel. But sadly, they were cut up into rugs after they died.
If you ever get bored on a Tuesday night, then go to the Dipson and watch cool movies that you have never seen before!
Billy Blog 